Hypertension

After completing this course, you’ll be able to:

1. Provide facts and dispel misconceptions about weight and heart disease.
2. Dispel misconceptions and explain facts about the effect of high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, smoking, obesity and physical activity on heart disease.
3. Dispel 12 common misconceptions about high blood pressure.
4. Define high blood pressure and list 5 major complications of untreated high blood pressure.
5. Describe the population groups most likely to develop high blood pressure.
6. Define two types of hypertension.
7. Discuss 4 rules one can follow to prevent high blood pressure.
8. List calories burned during various physical activities.
9. Advise patients about the sodium content of various foods.
10. Explain misconceptions about the effect of dietary supplements, caffeine, garlic or onions, and stress management on preventing high blood pressure.
11. Define high blood pressure and list systolic and diastolic pressures in optimal, normal and hypertension categories.
12. Prescribe 4 measures one can take to control and prevent hypertension.
13. Describe congestive heart failure and its relation to hypertension.
14. List at least 12 moderate physical activities that can reduce your risk of heart disease.
15. List 6 things one can do to reduce salt and sodium in one’s diet.
16. Describe the trends in the awareness, treatment, and control of high blood pressure in adults between 1976 to 1994.
17. List 7 technical points in the proper measurement of blood pressure.
18. List 4 advantages of self-measurement of blood pressure.
19. Describe the evaluation process for hypertension using medical history, physical examination, laboratory tests and other diagnostic procedures.
20. List 7 lifestyle modifications for hypertension prevention and management.
21. Identify various oral antihypertensive drugs, their trade names, usual dosage ranges and possible side effects.
22. Identify 6 major causes of inadequate responsiveness to antihypertensive therapy.
23. List 13 guidelines to improve patient adherence to antihypertensive therapy.
24. Discuss hypertension in special population groups and situations.
25. Define hypertension in children and adolescents.
26. Demonstrate the technique for proper measurement of blood pressure in children.
27. Explain the use of blood pressure tables adjusted for height for boys and girls.
28. Measure blood pressure in children using correct equipment, cuff size and posture.
29. Describe the treatment of hypertension in children and adolescents using nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic therapy.
30. Define diabetes mellitus and provide diagnostic criteria of hypertension.
31. Describe the epidemiology of associations among diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
32. Discuss special considerations in diabetic patients with hypertension, such as kidney disease, CVD, cerebrovascular disease, diabetic retinopathy, orthostatic hypertension, autonomic neuropathy, sexual dysfunction, lipid disorders, obesity, pregnancy and Type I diabetes.
33. Propose a treatment plan that includes lifestyle modifications and pharmacologic treatment.
34. Discuss the efficacies and limitations of various drugs in controlling hypertension in diabetic persons.
35. List 5 factors responsible for poor adherence to therapy.
36. List 4 classifications of hypertension disorders in pregnancy and provide criteria for their diagnosis.
37. Explain the problems associated with the classification of hypertensive disorders.
38. Describe the epidemiology of hypertensive disorders.
39. Provide a differential diagnosis of hypertension in pregnancy.
40. Discuss pharmacological and nonpharmacological management of hypertension in pregnancy.
41. Provide nursing management to hypertensive patients who become pregnant and to pregnant patients who become hypertensives.
42. List 9 signs of preeclampsia that may present potential danger to mother and baby.
43. Describe classification of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy using ACOG terminology.
44. Distinguish between preeclampsia and the more benign forms of high blood pressure, mainly essential and gestational hypertension.
45. Discuss the incidence and prevalence of renal disease among persons with hypertension.
46. Discuss various studies that have attempted to determine whether antihypertensive therapy reduces progression of renal failure or prevents rental involvement in essential hypertension.
47. Describe the role of specific renoprotective antihypertensive drugs in slowing the rate of progression of renal failure.
48. Define primary pulmonary hypertension.
49. Describe the incidence of PPH in various population groups.
50. Discuss the causes of PPH and list at least 4 symptoms of the disease.
51. Describe the diagnostic procedure for PPH using electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, pulmonary function tests, perfusion lung scan and right-heart cardiac catheterization.
52. Provide 4 classifications of PPH based upon the patient tolerance for activity.
53. Discuss drug treatment for PPH.
54. Discuss with the patient lung transplantation as a last resort for PPH.
55. Provide 5 tips to the patient on living with primary pulmonary hypertension.
56. Explain the use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring by researchers.
57. Describe ABPM equipment, its operation and accepted standards.
58. List 8 advantages and 8 limitations of ABPM.
59. Enumerate cost considerations in ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, such as patient charges, cost of equipment and software, professional time, etc.
60. Make suitable recommendations in the use of ABPM in patients with hypertension.
61. List 9 clinical situations in which ABPM is useful.
62. Manage the problem of inadequate adherence to treatment and followup.
63. List 6 strategies most likely to achieve the greatest improvement in adherence to therapy.
64. Suggest 5 behavioral changes that would prevent adherence problems from the start.
65. Write 10 suggestions and corresponding rationale for preventing adherence problems throughout treatment.
66. List 5 things to do if adherence problems continue.
67. Define DASH diet plan and explain how it can help lower elevated blood pressure.
68. Provide 7 tips to your patient in following the DASH diet plan.
69. Set up the DASH diet plan for a patient with various food groups, daily servings, serving sizes, and their significance in healthy eating.
70. Write out a DASH eating plan with a complete breakfast, lunch and dinner menu for one week.

To assess the effectiveness of the course material, we ask that you evaluate your achievement of each learning objective on a scale of A to D (A=excellent, B=good, C=fair, D=unsatisfactory). Please indicate your responses next to each learning objective and return it to us with your completed exam.